Why did I get an Amber Alert on my cellphone?

A mass Amber Alert was send out Monday to people throughout Florida.

August 26, 2013|By Jeff Weiner, Orlando Sentinel

Using a relatively new method for sending massAmber Alerts directly to cellphones,authorities on Monday asked people throughout Florida to be on the lookout for a vehicle sought in a presumed child-abduction case.

The alert, which triggered loud alarms in pockets and purses across the state, was sent via the Wireless Emergency Alerts system. It allows officials to send a brief, text-message-type alert to all cell users whose phones are within range and technologically compatible.

There are three categories of alerts which use the technology: weather/emergency alerts, Amber Alerts and alerts issued by the president. The alerts are distributed to wireless carriers by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The alerts are accompanied by a jarring noise, and can cause quite a stir on social media.

The Monday alert asked residents for help locatinga gray 2013 Chevrolet Impala last seen in Miami-Dade County.

About 6 p.m., Miami-Dade police said the girl had been found safe. There never was an abduction, they said.

A driver saw a girl's face in a car trunk that popped open and watched the driver get out and close the trunk, a police spokesman said. She called authorities, assuming something sinister. Officers determined the car was a rental and tracked down the driver and his daughter at a store in the county, they said.

The father said his daughter had lowered the back seat to try to reach a water bottle in the trunk. He popped the trunk when they stopped at an intersection and retrieved it for her.

Many Twitter posts about the alertMonday were aimed at spreading the word about a child presumed to be in danger, and some expressed appreciation for the service: "I think it's pretty cool that we are warning everyone to be on the lookout. One of the good uses for modern technology," one user posted.

The WEA system distributes alerts geographically, according to FEMA: Compatible phones receive the alert message if they're within a designated area, which means you won't receive an alert from back home while you're away on vacation, but visitors to Florida on Monday likely did receive the Amber Alert.

"It's no different than when somebody drives past within range of your radio tower of them picking up that radio station," said Bob Hoever, director of special programs for the NCMEC. Amber Alerts became part of the WEA system in December.

Authorities now have access to a much wider audience than before, according to Hoever. The prior nationwide notification system required an opt-in, he said, and only about 700,000 signed up.

Not all Amber Alerts are distributed via WEA, he said; only those cases where meaningful information isavailable— such as a suspect's tag number — arelikely to make for an effective text-message alert.

You can opt out of all but the presidential alerts by turning them off in your phone's settings.

"We've had three case now where [someone] spotted that tag and that Amber Alert has saved that child," Hoever said, adding that he thinks those who initially find the alerts intrusive will come around "when they realize that disturbance is what's being used to save the life of a child."